Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement: Laying the Foundation for an Inclusive Economic Development

With the liberalization of the economy, India has become one of the fastest growing nations in the world. The rapid economic growth has also had a significant impact on the social front. Social indicators have improved. Literacy levels have risen, while morbidity and mortality rates have declined. India has improved its rank one notch in the Human Development Index (HDI) value in the United Nations' Development Programme Report for 2006. However, it is widely felt that the rate of social development needs to escalate and economic growth needs to be backed by sustainable development. A number of efforts initiated by government and non government agencies on this front are working towards sustainable development of communities and the environment.

The 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) moved the concept towards an action agenda, especially in the context of Agenda 21, and advocated the achievement of sustainable livelihoods as a broad goal for poverty eradication focussed on the poor who live in marginalized areas. Agenda 21 stated that sustainable livelihoods could serve as an integrating factor that allows policies to address development, sustainable resource management and poverty eradication simultaneously.

After decades of India’s fight against poverty, new ideas about development are emerging .CII and several other institutions in India are revising their development strategies and placing greater emphasis on the elimination of poverty. One of the key strategies which have been unfolded is the Sustainable livelihoods enhancement programme.The Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) at Beijing underscored the significance of linkages between sustainability, employment, social integration, gender and poverty eradication for policy and development programming

Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement approaches in India stems from concerns about the effectiveness of development activity. Despite stated commitments to poverty reduction, the immediate focus of much government and private effort has been on resources and facilities (water, land, clinics, infrastructure) or on structures that provide services (education ministries, livestock, services, NGOs), rather than people themselves. The new Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement approaches place people firmly at the centre; the benchmark for their success is whether sustainable improvements in people’s livelihood have taken place. It is believed that this approach at refocusing on the poor will make significant difference to the achievement of poverty reduction goals.

The Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project (MPRLP) is a classic example of a Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement project in India. This project has brought together the Indian Government, Indian Private Sector, International Donor Agencies and the Community together. The project seeks to encourage the poverty-ridden rural families especially in tribal regions to lead a decisive fight against poverty. The voluntary participation of the poor in decision making process relating to rural livelihoods initiatives has made a desirable impact on rural scenario. The increasing confidence of the poor people to overcome poverty is being harnessed constructively to promote joint actions against long existing rural poverty. The MPRLP has adopted a bottom-up approach to poverty reduction. The MPRLP has unrolled village-specific livelihoods promotion plans with active cooperation and support from the institution of Gram Sabha or Village Assembly, which holds constitutional status.. Close partnerships with targeted rural communities through Gram Sabhas, the administration, management and need-based utilization of Gram Kosh or Village Fund by the Gram Sabha have developed a profound understanding among the rural poor about various dimensions of the rural poverty. Strengthening of Gram Sabhas on all aspects of development planning and management of resources goes on simultaneously. The Project has made well-contemplated attempts to inspire and guide community-driven micro enterprises.

The Private-Public Partnership being promoted by CII for development of backward districts, the initiative being piloted in Dungarpur, Rajasthan is another classic example of the Sustainable Enhancement of Livelihoods. The project calls for pooling of strengths and convergence of business initiatives, development programmes and science and technology inputs. The industry and institutional partners under this initiative are PI Industries, BAIF, PEDO/ Jain Irrigation/Grundfos Pump, RSSC, ITC, ICRISAT, Microsoft, District Education Department, GOR, ITI, Titagarh Bio-Tech Pvt. Ltd, DST & District Administration. Another important aspect of the project is the Development of ICT material for educating farmers on improved agricultural techniques for major crops of the district. The project is aiming for the Integrated Development of the District with a Strong Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement of the community.

Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement is a key strategy for the overall economic and social development of the people below the Poverty Line. It also gives an opportunity for both the Public and the private sector in India to join hands and to ensure that there in an inclusive economic development in the country and the development is sustainable and equitable.

India poised to Emerge as a Global Manufacturing Hub

India is poised to emerge as a global manufacturing hub for Earthmoving and Construction Equipments and a centre for design and R & D for ECE Industry. This was reverberated during the EXCON 2007 Conference on Opportunities and Challenges in the ECE Industry organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Indian Earthmoving & Construction Industry Association Ltd (IECIAL).

In his address, Mr. S. R Subramanian, CEO, L&T-Komatsu Limited said that Indian companies with continuous focus on quality, low process engineering costs, higher asset utilization, low manpower costs and availability of raw materials are better positioned to emerge as a global manufacturing hub of earthmoving and construction equipments.

Highlighting the manufacturing capability of the Construction Equipment industry in India, he said that the major players in construction Equipment market in India have their own R & D centres. Indian companies are investing in R&D and developing technologies that are creating global benchmarks in the International market. He also spoke about the advantages of India as a manufacturing base for the ECE equipments.

Stressing on the emergence of Indian companies in this sector, Mr. Subramanian said that manufacturing in India follows a system process to meet global quality standards and is creating a change through a high performing culture and added that the world is looking at India as a preferred manufacturing destination rather than a market with attractive labour force.

Mr. S K Das, Executive Director, Bharat Earth Movers Limited said that Indian Manufacturing sector clocked decade highest growth rate of 14% in March 2007 because of the focus on best practices and innovation. Mr. Das further added that the Growth in the ECE is in the range of 25% to 30% for the past few years and it will be continue to be so in the coming decade.

Mr. Kevin Thieneman, Managing Director (Asia Pacific), Caterpillar, in his address spoke about the supply chain Management challenges and solutions and added that better supply chain management is the need of the hour in the Industry because supply chain strategy and design reduces cost and improves the service to the Customers. He also spoke about the Third Party Logistics (3PL) penetrating into the Indian markets.

Mr. Rajendra Khoda, Director – Sales (South Asia & The Middle East), Terex Pegson Ltd spoke about the technological developments in the Crushing and screening equipments. He emphasized the advantages of Tracked (Mobile) Plants such as easy mobility, no land acquisition cost, Low assembly cost, planning of the cost and budgeting.

Mr K. Kimura, Director, Telcon gave an insight about the technology trends in the world with respect to construction equipments and emphasized on the need for environmental friendly equipments. He quoted by an example of a product based on the concept of the Global e-service machines. These machines can be monitored and controlled through satellite and are GPS enabled. This technology helps in ascertaining the exact location of the equipment and thus results in easy and faster supply of raw material or providing the repair or maintenance at the earliest hence reducing the average completion cost and time.

Mr. Arjun Mirdha, Executive Vice President, JCB India Ltd spoke extensively on India being an export hub in manufacturing components and machines. He stressed on the fact that India would become the 3rd largest economy by 2050 and hence offered immense potential in the Infrastructure Development front.

In his opening remarks Mr. S. Raghavan, Executive Vice president, Machinery Sector, Larsen & Toubro Limited said, India is a market that has a huge potential for growth and it is also the right time for the companies to tap the opportunities.

CII Skill conclave deliberates on the need for Skill Development

CII Skill Conclave deliberates on the need for skill development to sustain the Economic Growth

Skill development is the quintessential factor to maintain the current economic growth and if this is not addressed at the earliest it will have a debilitating effect on the Indian economy. This was reverberated at the Conclave on Building Skills: Building India organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today. Delivering the Inaugural address at the conclave Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Sugar, Industries & Commerce, Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh dwelt on the need for skill development to maintain the competitiveness of the Indian Economy and added that issue of skill shortage has received due diligence from the central and the state Governments. Addressing the criticality of Skills in India , Dr Reddy said that the Government cannot work independently and need to work with the Indian Industry to develop Industry vertical skills and this is utmost important to meet the need for skilled workforce across all sectors, she said.

In his special address, Mr. G Vinod, Hon’ble Minister for Labour, Employment, Factories and Boilers, Government of Andhra Pradesh said that the efficiency of an individual grows as he build skills and this in turn increases his productivity to perform the job. Mr. Vinod also added that the Government of Andhra Pradesh supports all such initiatives and offered all help from the Government in the area of Skill Development. In his Keynote address, Mr. Ashok Soota, Past President, CII and Chairman and Managing Director, Mindtree Consulting Pvt. Ltd. said that India is facing a difficult task of having strong economic fundamentals but with an environment where the rate of Unemployment is high compounded with the lack of availability of skilled people.

Mr. Soota said there is a perception in India that “only higher education leads to higher personal growth and employment” and this needs to be corrected. It is the knowledge of skills that is important to have higher personal growth and Employment and added that stakeholders need to decide their roles and responsibilities in skill development, the funding requirements and the funding mechanism. In his theme address, Mr. B Santhanam, Chairman, Taskforce on Skills, Employability and Affirmative Action, CII (SR) said that as the share of agriculture in the economy has reduced over the years, more and more people are moving into manufacturing and service sectors as the country develops and Skill building is needed for these people to build for a lucrative employment. Quoting a CII -IMacs Study, Mr. Santhanam said that there are large manpower requirements in several sectors in Andhra Pradesh and the state needs 7.5 to 8 million additional workforce by 2015.

Mr. T T Ashok Chairman, CSR Sub committee , CII (SR) delivered the welcome address and Mr. Pradeep Dhobale, Chairman, CII – Andhra Pradesh delivered the concluding remarks.

The conclave has brought the different stakeholders together to discuss in depth on topics like Strategic challenges and Policy Initiatives in Skill Development, the global scenario in Skill Development and the Employers involvement.

Coinciding with the conclave, Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Sugar, Industries & Commerce, Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mr. G Vinod, Hon’ble Minister for Labour, Employment, Factories and Boilers, Government of Andhra Pradesh released the CII Study on Mapping of Human Resources and Skills in Andhra Pradesh -2015